French Poetry by Two Canadian Poets

French is often referred to as la belle langue Française – the
beautiful French language.

It is spoken, read and studied in the land where it originated, that is, France
as well as various other countries of the continents of Europe, America and
Africa. French is also appreciated in many non-French speaking countries. This
is due to the fact that the very act of listening to it gives a feeling that it
is poetic and it is a language in which intense emotions and deep thoughts can
be expressed with unique perfect precision.

I have the immense pleasure of bringing forth some works of two contemporary
French Canadian poets, Huguette Bertrand and Odette Beaudry respectively. The original poems in French appear first, followed by my English translation of each poem.

HUGUETTE BERTRAND

D'UNE SAISON À L'AUTRE

La beauté de
l'arbre

m'engendre

à chaque instant

me raconte ses
silences

ses effeuillements

d'une saison à
l'autre

m'aspire vers le
haut

jusqu'à son faîte

tel
un projet d'oiseau

FROM ONE SEASON TO ANOTHER

I’m revived by
the beauty of the tree
every moment
it shares with me its quietness
its leafless life
from one season to another
drags me to reach
its top
like a bird’s dream

NUIT ÉCLATÉE

Avez-vous remarqué

que la nuit porte
en elle

toute la lumière
du jour

ses accents graves

les plus fragiles

ses accents aigus

les plus osés

Nuit extravagante

éclatée de rire

en attente du jour

et la vie
au-dedans

ses murmures

ses passions

et tous les
accents appropriés

au fur et à mesure

des événements

SPARKLING NIGHT

Have you noticed that

the night carries within her

all the daylight

its most fragile

low sounds

its most daring

high ones

Fanciful night

bursting into laughter

while awaiting the day

and the life within

its whispers

its passions

and all the suitable sounds

gradually unfolding

as time goes on

DE TEMPS EN TEMPS

Le temps se porte bien

défile à travers les saisons

se repose chez l’enfant

hurle chez les grands

il passe

il passe d’un regard à l’autre

se méfie des heures rouges

de nos nuits trop
noires

il file

il file entre
rires et pleurs

se fait complice
du vent

il secoue les
événements

défie la lourdeur
des âges

il attend

il attend

au coin de l’oeil

sans
broncher

FROM
TIME TO TIME

The
time fares well

It
passes through seasons

rests
in children’s hearts

shouts
in adults’ minds

It
passes by

It
moves from glance to glance

becomes
suspicious when seeing red hours

in
our darkest nights

It
flies

It
flies amidst laughter and tears

partner
with the wind

It
shakes events

defies
the tension of ages

It
waits

It
waits

in a
corner of the eye

without stumbling

RENCONTRE

Se saluer à travers les branches

devant la colère du vent

quand les jours se tordent

dans les reliefs du ciel

Se saluer à travers la
voix

à travers l'oeil

pour faire durer
le temps

pour dérober
l'espace entre nos gestes

et inscrire un
pacte

au registre de nos
mémoires

Se reconnaître à
travers une parole intense

comme des fous
entêtés

et sous la caresse
des mots

diluer un peu de
soi dans la lumière diffuse

THE
ENCOUNTER

Greetings
through the branches

facing
the wrath of the wind

when
days are twisted

in
the slopes of the sky

Greetings
through our voices

through
our eyes

making
time linger

to
conceal space between our acts

inscribing
a pact

registered
in our memories

Let
us meet again though an intense word

like
stubborn insane people

and
with hugging words

disolving
ourselves in a diffused light

ODETTE BEAUDRY

Espoir

Que la lumière de ton
visage

Vienne éclairer la nuit de mon
âme

Que le feu de tes yeux

Enflamme la pierre de mon
regard

Humer toute l'odeur de ton cœur

Aux frontières de l'abandon

Passer sur l'autre rive

Que survive l'amour de la mort

Apprivoisant les silences

Jusqu'à l'aube de nos corps

Mon amour, mon île

Tant de solitude psalmodiée

Dans le sang chaud des
groseilles

Chant de fruits mûrs

Remarquables noces des soleils

Tu verras sur ton chemin tant de
fleurs

Tant d'espace et tant de
verdure

Tant de soleil et tant de mer

Ce sont là les plages de ton
destin

Tes lèvres à l'ombre des
misères

Engrosseront d'amour tes
paroles

Rempliront le secret de mes
désirs

J'attendrai jusque dans le soir
nuptial

Et jusqu'aux heures tardives du
réveil

Sur les berges des attentes
océanes

Aux odeurs d'herbes folles et
de miel d'or

Là où l'oiseau chante pour nous
le bonheur

Et l'espoir...

Hope

May the glow of your face
enlighten the darkness of my soul

May the fire of your eyes
ignite the precious stone of my eyes

Letting all the fragrance of your heart
on the surrendering borders

Swimming to the further river-bank of life
May the love of impermanent death survive
Taming the quietness
until the dawn of our bodies

O my love, my sweet island
chanting many songs of solitudeIn
the warm blood of red currents
Songs of mature fruits
Emphasize on the union of the suns

On your path will smile many flowers
Much space and greenery
Much sunlight and many seas
These are the beaches of your fate

My loves will last
in my long term memory node
The child in me is the proof
of permanence

Biography: Huguette BertrandHuguette Bertrand is a French-Canadian poet and editor born in
Sherbrooke (Québec), Canada.
She has published 33 poetry books. Her poems have also been published in many
poetry journals and anthologies, in Canada, France, U.S.A, Romania and on many
websites for the last 20 years.
She has participated in poetry shows, book shows, exhibition of her poetry on
photos and conducted workshops in Quebec and France. She is the representative
of the international movement Immagine & Poesia in Canada and editor of
anthologies for this group.

Biography:
Odette Beaudry (pseudonym: Ode)Odette
Beaudry (pseudonym: Ode) is a French Canadian (Québécoise) sculptor, painter,
graphic designer, poet, novelist and professor of Visual Arts and French.Ode graduated with a Master’s degree in Visual Arts and Education from
Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM).She
has been publishing her poetry on her website since 1999.She has won various prestigious literary awards such as « Prix de la
Francophonie 2010 ». She was also the winner of the poetry award Alain-
Lefeuvre 2010 for the collection of her poems Le Fleuve donne Naissance aux
Enfants des Etoiles.She was also invited at Société des Poètes Français (SPF) in Paris in 2011and
was the chief guest of the city of Nice where the famous poet Alain Lefeuvre
lived.She also participated in a conference on Quebec’s literature at the
Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen (CUM) in Nice.Her
Poetry book Voyage en Cosmogonie was translated into Italian by the poet,
Mario Selvaggio and was published as a bilingual book (French-Italian) in 2016.
Ode co-authored the poetry book entitled Complicité, Chroniques Amoureuses
with the poet Robert Ronnefoy and it was
published in February 2017.